Case Number 14197

FORTRESS

The Charge

"Intestinate!"

Opening Statement

Lionsgate dusts off the cobwebs on this 1993 futuristic prison sci-fi
actioner starring Christopher Lambert (Highlander) and the go-to guy for
the main villain in these kinds of movies, Kurtwood Smith (Robocop).

Facts of the Case

In 2017, life pretty much sucks. Overpopulation has led to harshly enforced
limitations on procreation and because abortion is banned, naturally, the world
becomes an apocalyptic nightmare wasteland of fascism and punching. John
Brennick (Lambert) and his wife Karen (Loryn Locklin) try to flee the country,
but are caught at the border and, because she's expecting their second illegal
child, the two are sentenced to the Fortress, the inescapable prison run by an
evil corporation and lorded over by the megalomaniacal warden, Poe (Smith) and
his virtual reality floozy Zed.

Turns out the corporation is genetically modifying people to make a master
race and the prisoners are playing a role in this wacky scheme. It falls to
Brennick to rally the human spirit of the prisoner population and take the fight
to The Man.

The Evidence

Futuristic prison colony movies are boatloads of fun, no doubt, and there are
some amusing things to be found in Fortress, but overall, this is one
corny movie. The subject matter is designed to be taken seriously, what with the
themes of oppression, dehumanization of criminals, corruption of unchecked
corporations, etc. but Holy Cow if the sight of prisoners dry heaving because of
the computer chips implanted in their intestines and the upbeat color palette
(lots of bright oranges and baby blues) doesn't neutralize the deadly serious
stuff.

To the flick's credit, the bullet-ridden final third is pretty fun.
Anonymous bad guys in plastic robot suits litter the place and make for some
excellent cannon fodder. Plus there's lot of blood and goo once Lambert gets a
hold of a giant gun that tears up fools but looks like it weighs about 400
pounds.

Speaking of Christopher Lambert, dude manages to stay cool, despite the
cheeseball surroundings, holding his own in physical confrontations and talking
trash in that three-pack a day smoker's growl he's got. Plus, the guy just loves
the wet dream. Thanks to the 2017 technology advances in telepathy, computers
can read brains while the person sleeps and Brennick unleashes a flurry of
nonstop erotic dreaming as soon as he arrives, turning the prison terminals into
Cinemax tuners. Has there been a sci-fi hero in recent memory with such a
libidinous subconscious? Doubtful.

His posse of prison pals are uniformly irritating, though, from the scrappy,
naïve "young kid" who is constantly in over his head and requires
saving to the requisite "nerd prisoner" who has the ability to solve
all technical problems with only the minimal amount of resources and
hardware.

Then there's Kurtwood Smith doing the typical bad guy thing in his bodacious
suit jacket that looks less 2017 and more, well, 1993. He sleazes around and
contorts his face wildly when called upon and succeeds in making me wish he
would explode and, lo and behold, he does, flinging what appears to be laundry
detergent all around the room.

Fortress comes to us with little fanfare. Interestingly, the
cardboard sheath, housing the disc case, looks to be a new design, but within is
an old-school Artisan (haven't heard that name in a while) release. The on-disc
presentation is indeed "Artisan-esque" bringing a no-frills full
frame, 2.0 stereo technical offering and no extras save for some liner
notes.

Closing Statement

It's bombastic and goofy, but Fortress is still entertaining in that
excessive early '90s science fiction action spectacle sort of way. The DVD
brings very little to the table, though.